With animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain, gives vigor and fertility to the offspring. --Darwin.
2. Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.
Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which, propogated, spoil the strain of nation. --Tillotson.
3. Rank; a sort. ``The common strain.'' --Dryden.
4. (Hort.) A cultural subvariety that is only slightly differentiated. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Strain \Strain\ (str[=a]n), v. i. 1. To make violent efforts. ``Straining with too weak a wing.'' --Pope.
To build his fortune I will strain a little. --Shak.
2. To percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil.
Strain \Strain\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Strained}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Straining}.] [OF. estraindre, estreindre, F. ['e]treindre, L. stringere to draw or bind tight; probably akin to Gr. ? a halter, ? that which is squeezwd out, a drop, or perhaps to E. strike. Cf. {Strangle}, {Strike}, {Constrain}, {District}, {Strait}, a. {Stress}, {Strict}, {Stringent}.] 1. To draw with force; to extend with great effort; to stretch; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the cords of a musical instrument. ``To strain his fetters with a stricter care.'' --Dryden.
2. (Mech.) To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it.
3. To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously.
He sweats, Strains his young nerves. --Shak.
They strain their warbling throats To welcome in the spring. --Dryden.
4. To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person.
There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it. --Swift.
5. To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship.
6. To injure in the muscles or joints by causing to make too strong an effort; to harm by overexertion; to sprain; as, to strain a horse by overloading; to strain the wrist; to strain a muscle.
Prudes decayed about may track, Strain their necks with looking back. --Swift.
7. To squeeze; to press closely.
Evander with a close embrace Strained his departing friend. --Dryden.
8. To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.
He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth Is forced and strained. --Denham.
The quality of mercy is not strained. --Shak.
9. To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation.
Note, if your lady strain his entertainment. --Shak.
10. To press, or cause to pass, through a strainer, as through a screen, a cloth, or some porous substance; to purify, or separate from extraneous or solid matter, by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk through cloth.
{To strain a point}, to make a special effort; especially, to do a degree of violence to some principle or to one's own feelings.
{To strain courtesy}, to go beyond what courtesy requires; to insist somewhat too much upon the precedence of others; -- often used ironically. --Shak.
Strain \Strain\, n. 1. The act of straining, or the state of being strained. Specifically: (a) A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles; as, he lifted the weight with a strain; the strain upon a ship's rigging in a gale; also, the hurt or injury resulting; a sprain.
Whether any poet of our country since Shakespeare has exerted a greater variety of powers with less strain and less ostentation. --Landor.
Credit is gained by custom, and seldom recovers a strain. --Sir W. Temple. (b) (Mech. Physics) A change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress. --Rankine.
2. (Mus.) A portion of music divided off by a double bar; a complete musical period or sentence; a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement.
Their heavenly harps a lower strain began. --Dryden.
3. Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, oration, book, etc.; theme; motive; manner; style; also, a course of action or conduct; as, he spoke in a noble strain; there was a strain of woe in his story; a strain of trickery appears in his career. ``A strain of gallantry.'' --Sir W. Scott.
Such take too high a strain at first. --Bacon.
The genius and strain of the book of Proverbs. --Tillotson.
It [Pilgrim's Progress] seems a novelty, and yet contains Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains. --Bunyan.
Because heretics have a strain of madness, he applied her with some corporal chastisements. --Hayward.
But this is placing a huge strain on staff training.
The Public Health Service is thus recommending a different B strain, the Victoria flu, be included in next winter's vaccine.
The death came as a shock to a family that has had to deal with the strain of years of imprisonment of Joseph Cicippio Sr., 60, and threats by his kidnappers.
Jay A. Levy, leader of the University of California at San Francisco team that made the discovery, said Thursday that the new isolated strain may be an important new tool in the development of an effective drug against the AIDS virus.
Sunday's incident at Paitilla Airport was certain to further strain relations between the United States and the Panama government dominated by Gen.
Opinion polls which increasingly show that a French 'no' vote is a real possibility increases the strain on weak ERM members; if the monetary union project finally unravels, the markets may lose faith altogether in current ERM parities.
The strain was compounded by a British appeals court's refusal to overturn the conviction of six Irishmen for two bombings that killed 21 people in 1974.
The evidence is that significant strain has accumulated along the fault since the region's last big earthquake. Recognising precursors will still be difficult.
Wage drift undermined national pay deals and labour costs grew uncompetitive. The strain this imposed on SAF was considerable.
The Imperial Household Agency said the emperor's normal pressure was not immediately available, but a typical normal reading is about 120 over 80. High blood pressure can pose a strain on the heart and worsen internal bleeding.
The first is that it does not strain balance sheets.
But even at the low range, they said, discovery of the newer strain "suggests that eggs represent a greater share of the overall salmonellosis problem than has been appreciated."
But the party shows no sign of being prised loose from the present government, at least until after the next general election. In the meantime, an issue which may strain the government is Denmark's relationship with the EU.
The crisis could strain U.S.-Israeli relations.
The threat of a strike could strain liquidity further, the filing said.
But it could equally bring reprisals.' With its policy of containment under strain, France is being pushed to reconsider its relationship with the Algerian government.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson says severe financial strain from continued ownership of television station KDTU has forced elimination of 14 jobs, suspension of some services and imposition of salary cuts.
"Helping the PCAs to survive the financial strain brought on by this year's drought is particularly important, because the district's farmers and ranchers rely on their PCAs for short-term credit," he said.
Given his reputation as a stickler for detail, the 75-year-old former judge clearly is concerned that expanding the scope of his inquiry threatens to strain his limited resources and create further delays.
Doctors said her setback was caused by the strain of meeting dignitaries who demanded to see her.
The company's right to make a market value adjustment on pay-outs from the Prudence Bond meant that it should not impose a great capital strain, he said.
LTV Corp.'s recent temporary termination of retirees' health and life-insurance benefits under the company's bankruptcy proceedings highlighted that strain.
Since his failed presidential campaign in 1988, Mr. Dole has been increasingly outspoken in challenging the pro-Israel lobby, and his stance mirrors the growing strain between the administration and Israel.
Even before the unrest, the government was under financial strain, among other things finding it difficult to meet payments on its $3.9 billion foreign debt.
Many signs of strain in a study of 29 Tel Aviv University computer center workers during Passover vacation were as great as or greater than during hectic computer shutdowns or startups or routine work.
On the other hand, aversion to quotas - a strong strain in the American electorate - is unlikely to send people flocking to the polls to back Republicans as a way of thanking Bush for his veto.
In 1906, the bacteriologist Calmette isolated a culture of bovine TB bacteria, which he and Guarin mutated and bred in the laboratory until they had a non-virulent strain.
Even if the line remains open the brothers are not going to cross the signal workers picket line to catch the Preston train, are they? The only worry is the possible strain on union finances if delegates insist on taking taxis home.
Commissioner Valerie H. Armstrong cast the only vote in support of the plan, saying Caesars had provided sufficient evidence that it wouldn't buckle under the strain of the $960 million of new debt required to finance the recapitalization.
Adding to the fiscal strain on local districts, the current trend of de-institutionalization has placed thousands of youngsters once consigned to state mental hospitals into the care of public schools.